A Bright and Beautiful Future
by Teris24
Summary: In her attempts to win Sakaki's affections, Kaorin succumbs to obsessive behavior.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any Azumanga Daioh characters. Just to be safe, I rated this story R.

**Note:** Let me emphasize that this is definitely an edited version of this story because the first version got TOSed.If you want to read the **actual story**, you can find it at fosff dot net.

**Note note 1/28/05:** So apparently there are some people who aren't understanding what 'edited' means. This version of the story is chock full of '(edit)'s and '(scene edit)'s because I'm not about to rewrite the entire thing. **If you want to read the actual story, you can find it at the site mentioned above. **What does that mean? That means don't leave me a review that says something about those '(edit)'s. Read this disclaimer, comprehend it, and then choose which version you'd like to read. Thank you very much for your intelligence. m(. .)m

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**A Bright and Beautiful Future**

Tonight was the night. Kaorin hugged the package tightly to her chest as she made her way down the sidewalk. The dreamy smile on her face told nothing of where she was going but anyone who knew her well enough just might have been able to guess. Her entire week, or actually her entire year, had been leading up to this one evening.

Miss Sakaki. Ever since that first day of school when Kaorin had caught sight of the tall, dark-haired girl she had been completely taken. Sakaki had been the cool girl that all other girls admired for her athletic prowess and stoicism.

At first it had been simple admiration for Kaorin as well. Kaorin had wanted so much to be like Miss Sakaki because Sakaki never got worked up over anything. It was almost like she had a backup plan for anything that might have come her way.

Over time, Kaorin concluded that she didn't want to be exactly like Sakaki because Sakaki was someone who was too perfect to be imitated. Any other tall, introspective girl with dark hair who remained on the sidelines of life would never be anything but a cheap, generic-brand Sakaki. Sakaki was the one that did it first and she was the only true original who could do it right. As that was the case, Kaorin's feelings began to change.

It was the middle of their first semester together when Kaorin realized that she didn't want to be like Miss Sakaki. She just wanted her.

For Kaorin, it wasn't enough that she gazed at the silent girl all day in class. During P.E. she followed Sakaki around as much as possible without being too obtrusive. If both of them were participating in a game like volley ball or baseball, she would become anxious if they were put on different teams. She hated the thought of having to compete against her idol. Somehow it made her feel awful.

Kaorin knew that she wasn't the only one who admired Sakaki. Other girls from all classes and grade levels looked up to her for examples on how to act cool. After a while Kaorin found this difficult to ignore. She started to become jealous when another girl would compliment Sakaki because she didn't want anyone else looking at Sakaki the way that she did. None of them could ever know the extent of her idol's awesomely cool demeanor. There was more to Sakaki than just being silent and meditative. There was something more that no one but Kaorin herself could have seen. Cool didn't even come close to bringing Sakaki into total perspective.

At last Kaorin approached the door of Sakaki's house. Her hands were shaking so badly that she had to take a few deep breaths before she could calm herself down. She had never been to Sakaki's house. Before this evening she had never felt that she was worthy enough to set foot on Miss Sakaki's place of dwelling. No one should have been worthy enough. It had taken her nearly a year to get up the courage to make this journey further into the life of the girl that she had been watching and needing for so long. Sakaki had to know how much she loved her, how much she would do for her.

Tonight she would tell Miss Sakaki. She would tell her everything. The image of their future together had tacked itself up in the back of Kaorin's mind like a little reminder. It was something that she saw every day, and every day it was the first thing that made her smile. Neither she nor Sakaki would be totally complete until they were with each other, and tonight they would be at long last.

After a minute she finally lifted her hand and knocked softly on the door. Her heart was about to explode in her chest and she hoped that the pounding flow of blood wasn't making her face red.

Seconds passed and no one answered. Had she not knocked loudly enough? Perhaps there was no one home, but still there was a light on upstairs.

She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and took her bottom lip between her teeth. Maybe Sakaki had seen her coming and didn't want to talk to her.

Kaorin began to panic. She hadn't wanted to impose on Miss Sakaki and was beginning to feel that she had overstepped the line by coming to her house unannounced. Her only reason for doing so was that she had wanted to surprise her, and hopefully it would be a good surprise.

Just as she lifted her hand to knock again, she heard a lock coming undone and slowly the door was opened.

Sakaki peered outside, and then opened the door further when she saw who it was.

"Oh, hello Kaorin."

Kaorin could have died. Sakaki was looking just as dark and beautiful as she always did, but her hair was wet and it looked like she was already dressed for bed in a loose fitting tank top and pajama pants that had little silhouettes of cats all over them. Kaorin bowed her head low to hide her blush and smiled nervously. Just the sight of the taller girl was enough to make her mind go blank.

"M-Miss Sakaki! I hope I'm not interrupting anything but I was in the neighborhood and just thought I'd stop by for a little bit but I don't have to if you don't want me to because I don't want to bother you and it's not like it's anything important or anything but actually it looks like I am bothering you so I'll just be on my way!" she blurted before turning sharply on her heel and rushing back towards the street.

Sakaki had hardly understood a word of what Kaorin said but blinked when the girl suddenly turned and walked away. She lifted her hand to stop her.

"Wait! It's all right, really. I don't get visitors very often." It was unfortunate that a reputation for being cool and aloof kept others at a social distance. She didn't want Kaorin to fear her like so many other people did.

Kaorin froze dead in her tracks with one foot extended past the other. The package she had brought was still clutched tightly to her heaving chest.

_"Miss Sakaki is inviting me to stay?"_

She could have only dreamt about being so privileged. Slowly she turned back around and stood there quietly in the middle of the sidewalk.

"Um....Really? You're sure you're not.....busy?" her voice went up an octave that teetered on the edge of panic and relief as she tentatively walked back and paused on the doorstep.

Sakaki shook her head. It was true that she never received many guests. She would have liked to, even though she was highly self conscious about the layout of her room that was decorated with anything and everything cute. However, anyone who was fearless enough to pay her a visit would just be granted that extra knowledge of herself that she deemed appropriate only for her real friends. She smiled softly and pointed her thumb over her shoulder.

"I'm not busy. I was just-"

"YEEEEAAAAH! I DID IT!!!"

Sakaki and Kaorin both jumped suddenly to sound of someone inside yelling at the top of their lungs. Suddenly the entire house shook as the person came bounding down the stairs and through the hall towards the front door.

Kaorin's eyes grew wide. She had thought that maybe Sakaki had been alone this evening, but apparently not. There hadn't been any cars parked out front and she wondered if the rowdy person could have actually been one of Sakaki's parents. It was a difficult thing to imagine.

Yet the one who skidded up behind Sakaki was no parental figure. The person was definitely female, a little shorter than Sakaki, and instantly filled the air with a strong, wild energy.

"I beat your time by three seconds, Sakaki!" Kagura flashed a haughty smile and half tackled Sakaki who stumbled forward but caught herself against door frame with a slight blush. Kagura laughed and kept one of her arms around the other girl as she looked to see who had come to visit. "Oh, hey Kaorin! What's up?"

Kaorin stood frozen there on the doorstep with a disbelieving grin on her face. Kagura was dressed in a tank top, boxers, and a pair of socks. It didn't look as though she was just staying for the evening.

"Um...Hey, K-Kagura. I.....didn't know you were here too," Kaorin forced a nervous laugh and had to make a conscious effort to keep grinning. She had never liked Kagura ever since the star athlete had been transferred into Miss Yukari's class. Kagura was always bothering Sakaki and creating problems, and aside from that she spent more time with Sakaki than almost any other person. Kaorin had seen them walk together to and from school, and Kagura was always pulling her chair up to Sakaki's desk during lunch and then competing with her at everything during P.E. The two really spent more time together than Kaorin was comfortable with.

Sakaki offered an apologetic smile for Kagura's behavior and hooked her hand onto the hyperactive girl's shoulder.

"Kagura and I were just playing a few video games."

"Yeah, Sakaki doesn't like 'em that much but she's getting better. Not as good as me though!" Kagura laughed again and reached with her other hand to poke Sakaki in the ribs.

Sakaki hated for anyone to know that she was in the slightest bit ticklish and grabbed Kagura's hand to keep it a safe distance away from her side.

"Uh...Would you like to join us, Kaorin?" Her voice remained characteristically soft and smooth despite Kagura wiggling to try and free her hand.

Kaorin blushed deeply and rubbed the back of her neck with a smile that oozed false pleasantry.

"Actually it's getting kind of late and I just remembered that I left an oven in my food at home so I should be going!"

Before either Sakaki or Kagura could have protested, Kaorin dashed back down the sidewalk and rounded the corner out onto the street.

Sakaki stood silent and watched the girl sprint off like a jack rabbit from a trap. After a moment she frowned in mild confusion.

"Wonder what got into her?"

Kagura shrugged.

"I dunno. Social dysfunction? C'mon, let's go play another round."

The front door closed and the two headed back up to Sakaki's room.

On the verge of tears, Kaorin flattened herself back against one of the walls that lined the street. It couldn't have been true. Kagura and Miss Sakaki were only friends and nothing more. Actually they couldn't even have been friends because they were rivals. Kagura had said so herself.

Kaorin wiped her eyes with the back of her hand and straightened up with a determined frown. There was no way that she would be able to rest until she knew. Who did Kagura think she was just sleeping over at Sakaki's house like that? Miss Sakaki deserved nothing but the utmost respect, and Kagura had never showed her enough of it. Right there in the doorway she had just leapt upon her like some pack animal to its prey. That would never do.

Slowly she walked to the end of the wall and peered around into Sakaki's front yard. The front door was closed, and all of the lights in the house were off except for one upstairs. That was her target.

Furrowing her brow pensively, Kaorin looked around for a possible means of seeing up into the window. She would be way too visible if she tried to climb up on top of the wall, and trying to sneak into the house was completely out of the question.

Over in the corner of the yard was single tree. For safety reasons, several branches of the tree had been cut in order to keep it to a manageable size. The tree wasn't very big, but it looked steady enough and had enough leaves to possibly keep her concealed. It was her only chance.

Creeping across the yard, Kaorin dropped her box at the base of the tree and looked up at the branches to try and plan her ascent. It took a few hard leaps before she caught hold of the lowest branch and managed to hoist herself up. The view was no good.

She climbed up to the second branch and perched close to the tree trunk, gazing towards the window. Inside the lighted room she could make out the ceiling and the far wall, but nothing more.

She tried the third branch. More of the room came into view and suddenly Kagura passed by the window. Kaorin stilled, her hands tightening into the branches they held. Kagura passed by again and Kaorin could see that she was talking on the phone. The athlete made several animated gestures then threw her head back with a laugh before walking out of Kaorin's line of vision.

Kaorin growled. The nerve of that girl talking on Miss Sakaki's phone! She reached up for the fourth branch.

The vantage point offered by the fourth branch was almost perfect. Kaorin needed only to edge herself a few inches away from the tree trunk in order to see most of what was going on. Inside the room she could see a bed, a desk, and half of what she assumed to be an entertainment center. Just as she could have suspected, Miss Sakaki and Kagura were both there as well.

Sakaki was sitting on the foot of the bed holding what looked to be a video game controller. Kaorin watched as Kagura pressed a button on the cordless phone and tossed it onto the bed. Kagura said something to Sakaki who only nodded and kept her gaze fixed on the TV screen.

Kagura climbed onto the bed to lie on her stomach beside Sakaki.

"Sorry about that. Swim team stuff."

Sakaki nodded slightly but didn't divert her attention away from the video game she was playing. She wasn't really into video games all that much, but who was she to argue when Kagura had been so insistent on bringing her PS2 over for the night? Kagura folded her arms and looked to the game as well.

"You really should think about joining a team one of these days. I mean with your athletic ability I'm sure that-HEY!" Interrupting her own sentence, she jolted up into a half sitting position as the video game suddenly congratulated Sakaki on creating a new record.

Sakaki didn't care all that much. She did smile slightly as she set the controller down, but only because Kagura was so funny when she got riled up.

Kaorin scowled in a futile attempt to make out what was being said as she saw Kagura leap up from the bed and point at Sakaki. Judging from her gestures and the expression on her face, the athlete was clearly not happy.

Kaorin watched as Sakaki shrugged and made a brief reply which only made Kagura snatch up the video game controller and flop down on the floor at the foot of the bed. Ten minutes later, Kagura glared and shook her fist at the TV while Sakaki giggled behind her hand. Another ten minutes passed, and finally Kagura laughed and shot up to her feet. She pointed at the TV, and then said something before handing the controller back to Sakaki.

Kaorin's feet and back were beginning to hurt after spending so much time perched out on a branch. She was determined to make her conclusion tonight though, and it looked like that conclusion would be positive to her benefit.

A short time later, Kagura was up and fuming again while Sakaki just smiled and hunched her shoulders in a careless shrug.

Kaorin sighed dreamily. Sakaki was always so calm. Nothing could ever faze her, not even the temper tantrums of a mindless wanna-be superstar like Kagura.

With her curiosity close to satisfied, Kaorin shifted and prepared to go back down the tree. Yet something odd caught her gaze on the other side of the window. It wasn't a strange movement, but rather a lack thereof. Frowning, she looked back into the room.

Kagura stood still with her hands at her side. She then stepped over to take the controller out of Sakaki's hands and drop it to the floor. Sakaki looked up and started to say something, only to be cut off by an abrupt kiss that was powerful enough to push her back against the mattress. Kagura crawled up on top of her and pinned her wrists to the mattress above her head.

Kaorin turned white and nearly screamed with rage to the sight. In her mind she envisioned herself flying out of the tree, through the window, and strangling Kagura for defiling Sakaki in such a way. She knew that it would have been ridiculous if Sakaki had gotten with a girl like Kagura, but now it all made sense. Kagura had been forcing herself on Sakaki.

The way the energetic girl kissed Miss Sakaki so harshly and forced her back against the mattress, it was only too plain to see.

Kaorin glared and clenched her jaw tight, but the angry expression would gradually melt into a harrowing sadness as she continued to spy on the pair. Not only was Sakaki not resisting, but she was kissing Kagura back. It was a nightmare that Kaorin was helpless to do anything but watch as it unraveled right in front of her eyes.

Kagura broke from the Sakaki's lips and kissed a vigorous trail down the side of her neck.

(scene edit)

Not even ten yards outside of the bedroom window, Kaorin had fallen back against the tree trunk and hugged onto it for dear life. One of her hands clutched at her chest as she felt her heart crush like an old soda can in a trash compacter. She couldn't see clearly through the blur of tears that had collected at the base of her eyes and streaked down her cheeks. As much as she wanted to sob and scream, her throat felt too tight for any sound to come out. No one would have heard her anyway. This couldn't be real. Any moment she expected herself to wake up and start another day with the real Sakaki and the real Kagura. The real Sakaki and Kagura didn't like each other. They were rivals who were only meant to compete, and yet there they were right in front of her. Her beautiful Miss Sakaki with Kagura edit.

It would have been to her psychological benefit if she had turned her head away. She shouldn't have stayed. She should have gone home and spared herself this knowledge, but now it was too late and she had been unprepared for the immense amount of pain that came with seeing her Miss Sakaki get (edit) by that (edit).

(scene edit)

Even from her perch, Kaorin knew the exact moment when Sakaki (edit). The normally stoic girl (edit).

(scene edit)

"I know I don't need to say it," Kagura spoke softly and edit. Sakaki was still (edit) and turned (edit).

".....but I love you," Kagura whispered with a playful smile as she wrapped an arm around one of Sakaki's legs. Leaning down she brought their lips together in a slower, more passionate kiss. Sakaki returned the kiss eagerly, (edit).

(edit). The fact that they were seen as rivals in school had no effect on their relationship with each other. They were together, and they loved each other no matter how many times Kagura challenged Sakaki and Sakaki ended up winning. Love was a difficult and vague thing to find, and it didn't matter that neither of them thought they would find it in a would-be competitor.

Sakaki leaned up to (edit).

Kagura was the (edit).

Kaorin had seen more than enough. Crying openly, she nearly fell down from the tree and wiped her eyes with the long sleeve of her shirt. Grabbing up the package she had brought, she dashed out of the yard and down the street. She had never felt so betrayed in her life. She didn't stop running until she had made it all the way back to her own house.

When she got home she ran up the stairs and into her room and slammed the door behind her. In her rage she looked down at the package in her hands and then threw it across the room where it knocked over and broke the lamp on her dresser. Tonight was supposed to have been the happiest night of her life and instead it had turned out to be the worst. There was no use in trying to tell herself that she didn't care because she ha already cared too much. Kagura had no right to be with Miss Sakaki. Kaorin had known Miss Sakaki longer and she considered herself to be a better friend.

Kaorin slumped down against the door and brought her knees to her chest. The events that she had witnessed that night would be stuck with her for the rest of her life. How was she going to face either one of them tomorrow?

She sighed and let her head drop back against the door. Her frown was so deep and angry that the muscles in her face were beginning to hurt. Life wasn't fair. She and Miss Sakaki were meant to be together, but before she could pursue that she knew that she had to do something about Kagura. The only question was what she could have done to keep the athlete out of the way for good.

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**Note:** R&R if you want. :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any of these characters. This story is rated R for language and explicit sexual content.

**Note: **Concerning the discrepancy mentioned on the difference between "shoujo-ai" and "lemon/slash", my disclaimer always says when a story has **explicit sexual content**. If a person doesn't believe this unless they see the word "lemon" or "slash", that's not my problem. I apologize for any confusion.

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**Chapter 2**

The next morning Kaorin dragged her feet to Miss Yukari's classroom. With minus eight hours of sleep she felt and looked like a walking rag doll with clammy skin and dry eyes.

Last night she hadn't cared enough to get out of her cloths before climbing into bed. Clothes were a petty thing to worry about when her brain was still filled with thoughts of heartbreak and betrayal. Even closing her eyes had been out of the question. She had lain awake and stared listlessly at the ceiling until every indention and streak of paint became a familiar substitute for the memory of her beautiful Miss Sakaki laying prone beneath that treacherous bitch, Kagura. In the midst of her cold acquiescence, her pillow had become completely soaked before her tears finally dried and became sticky against her cheeks.

Getting up had been like emotional suicide. Beyond Miss Sakaki, there was no immediate reason for her to even get out of bed. She had been previously content in the knowledge that Miss Sakaki was alone and waiting for someone like her to come along, but last night's revelations had shattered the window of her idealism to shine reality right in her face.

The door to the classroom might as well have been the trigger of a gun, yet her hand was upon it. To think that only yesterday she had looked forward to these mornings. Her jaw tightened.

It was such a simple pleasure to have Miss Sakaki be one of the first things that she saw each day. Kagura had taken that simple pleasure and violated it beyond recognition, but not beyond repair. Through the bleak veracity of life's lessons there was always a small glimmer of hope. Kaorin would not let Kagura win. She slid the door open and entered the classroom.

Immediately she set her sights to the other side of the room. Miss Sakaki sat at her desk; a perfect representation of peace and loveliness with her chin propped in her hand as she gazed out the window. Kagura had occupied the seat in front of her sat sideways with one arm over the back of the chair. The athlete was talking about something, but Sakaki seemed to pay her no mind aside from the occasional glance and head nod.

Kaorin dug her fingers into the handle of her book bag and swallowed. No one else had seen those two the way that she had. To watch them now, talking and interacting so casually as though they had just met the other day, while less than twelve hours ago they had been wrapped naked in each others' arms, and she had been witness to all of it.

Quickly she made her way to her desk and sat down, trying not to notice when Kagura suddenly laughed and nudged Sakaki's arm. Her heart began to pound.

Sakaki and Kagura. Kagura and Sakaki. The pairing equation just didn't make sense when it placed together two athletes who were supposed to be avid competitors. Given that Sakaki didn't care about competition, Kagura was everyone's most prominent rival.

Slowly Kaorin creaked her head to the side and watched the two girls in the corner of her eye. Kagura laughed again, but Kaorin couldn't hear her. She was too busy focusing on Sakaki who made a brief reply and shrugged.

Sakaki raised her hand and sifted it back through her bangs. Kagura propped her chin in her hand and looked at the taller girl with a playful smile. Something had just transmitted between them and Kaorin suddenly grew very hot.

A subliminal language. Whatever it had been, why ever it had been, and what it meant, she was desperate to know. How long had it been going on? How much had she missed? How many signs had she passed by? What trick of events had set them in motion? Her fingers tightened into the edge of her desk and she felt herself becoming slightly dizzy. It had been going on all this time right under her nose and she had never even known it. All that time that she had spent pining for Miss Sakaki, all the poems she wrote and hours she passed by just staring at her image.....and Miss Sakaki had gone off without a hint and been taken by Kagura.

Suddenly she was startled by a hand falling against her shoulder.

"Kaorin," Chihiro stepped back when the other girl nearly fell out of her seat. She frowned softly as Kaorin looked up, then perched herself on the edge of her desk. "I called you three times. What's wrong? You're all sweaty."

Kaorin panted softly to catch her breath and wiped her hand across her forehead.

"Nothing's wrong. Just tired....or something," her voice was raspy because of the massive amount of sobbing she had done the previous night. Chihiro's expression only grew more somber.

"Oh....Are you ok?"

"Yes, I'm fine," Kaorin dragged out her text book and set it on the desk. All across the cover of the text book were small indentions made by her pencil where she had written Miss Sakaki's name over and over. The words could only be seen if light hit them just right. Sighing, she turned the book over.

Chihiro rubbed the back of her neck and offered a small grin.

"Um...I see. In that case, do you want to get together later and prepare some things for the astronomy club? I was thinking that we could plan a trip to an observatory."

"Maybe some other time. I'm busy this evening," Kaorin replied and cast another side glance toward Sakaki and Kagura.

Chihiro blinked, then slowly followed Kaorin's gaze to the girls on the other side of the room. She then looked back to her with a rather odd expression.

"Hm...All right. Let me know if you change your mind."

Kaorin nodded. She would definitely be busy this evening. She had to talk to Miss Sakaki and let her know how she felt before things with Kagura went any further. It was her own fault for having waited so long, but not anymore. Miss Sakaki would no longer wish to be subjected to the athlete's perverted whims once she heard how much Kaorin loved and desired her.

Just then, the classroom door slammed open and Miss Yukari stormed over to the front of the chalk board.

"Hurry up and take your seats! I don't have all day!" The teacher dropped her record onto her desk and then turned to start writing the day's lesson on the board. The students reluctantly obeyed their teacher and shifted back to their own desks, including Kagura who hoisted herself up and returned to her seat towards the front.

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"Hey Sakaki! C'mon, let's race!" Kagura ran up to the other girl who sat on the grass while she tied her shoes.

P.E. was the best hour of the school day for Kagura. She could barely pay attention in class for more than five minutes and was so hyperactive that she had problems sitting still. Then again she hadn't been transferred into Miss Yukari's class for her academic abilities. When it came to physical competition, Kagura was the number one pick that any team would have wanted on their side.

"Again?" Sakaki looked up from her partially tied laces. Kagura had her fists up in a playful fighting position and was bouncing back and forth on the balls of her feet. The dark girl sighed, but smiled slightly and shook her head. One thing about Kagura was that she was pretty easy to please.

"All right. I'll be there in a minute."

"YES! Just don't take forever like last time," Kagura smiled and jogged off to the track, unzipping the jacket of her winter uniform as she did.

Kaorin saw her chance. She had been watching Miss Sakaki all day and waiting for just one minute when she could possibly speak to her alone. Every time she would approach her, it was usually Chiyo or Kagura who beat her to it. It was now or never. She sprinted across the soccer field and skidded to a halt inches away from where Sakaki had just finished tying her shoes.

"M-Miss Sakaki!" Kaorin flashed the biggest, brightest smile that she could muster. She could do this. It wouldn't be any problem to get Sakaki to herself for a little while, and then it would be game over for Kagura. She held her hands together tightly in front of her chest and made a conscious effort to keep herself from fidgeting.

Sakaki looked up, a little surprised at the other girl's sudden appearance. She noticed that Kaorin had a knack for popping up, and then disappearing before the conversation ever got very far.

"Hi Kaorin," she replied as she got to her feet.

Kaorin felt her cheeks grow hot as she watched that magnificent figure rise to her full height. One hundred percent woman: tall, dark, and unbelievably sexy. Her black hair was so soft and her eyes were so deep and brooding. Kaorin felt herself begin to melt beneath their gaze but she cleared her throat and quickly shook her head.

"I..uh...I mean last night I wanted to apologize for. I mean for it. Last night that is. I hope you're not angry."

"Not at all," Sakaki extended one leg back and leaned her hands onto her other knee, stretching out her muscles. "You seemed to be in a hurry."

"Oh...um, well....Anyways!" Kaorin giggled nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. Looking at Sakaki and being so close to her didn't help the bombardment of memories that flowed rampant through her mind. She had seen that gorgeous body. She had seen it writhing and squirming in sexual excitement. The only problem was that she had been a witness to it and not a participant. That was soon to change. "You said that you like cats, right? Tonight would you like to come over and see our kittens? They're really cute!"

Sakaki shifted to stretch out her other leg and looked to the girl. The offer was very tempting, and the thought of getting to see the kittens caused her to blush at an almost unnoticeable degree. Unfortunately she had already made previous engagements.

"Sorry, but this evening I promised Kagura that I'd go shopping with her. She said that she needed new running gear for the Winter." She straightened up and flipped her hair back over her shoulder. The motion was enough to send the ends of the dark strands brushing against Kaorin's shoulder.

Flowers...Fresh, savory flowers. Kaorin inhaled the orgasmic scent as it passed briefly by her nose. She almost wet herself, but the vibrant moment was short lived. She snapped out of the trance when Sakaki's response registered in her mind.

"Shopping? B-but....Miss S-Sakaki...." She stuttered and held her hand out, but let it drop when Sakaki arched an inquisitive eyebrow. It wouldn't look good if she acted desperate. Yet she was so very desperate. Her entire upper body heaved in a sigh as she turned. Best to stave the pain and walk away than stand there and let the rejection gnaw at her gut. "All right...Some other time then."

Sakaki watched the girl shuffle off, then sighed and headed off towards the track where she could see Kagura doing a set of jumping jacks. She hoped that one day Kaorin would still invite her over. She did so love cats after all.

Kaorin felt herself crashing all over again. Miss Sakaki had given up an opportunity to be with her to instead go someplace with Kagura. Why couldn't anyone see? Kagura wasn't willing to do half as much for Miss Sakaki as she was. What did Kagura have that she didn't have besides a bigger chest?

Suddenly she stopped.

That was it. It wasn't Miss Sakaki that she needed to be paying attention to. It was Kagura. If somehow she could learn more about Kagura and figure out what it was that Sakaki found so worth while in her, then she could incorporate those attributes into herself and become ten times the girl that Kagura was. She hated Kagura, but she was willing to sacrifice her dignity and hatred if it meant winning Miss Sakaki's affections.

With fresh motivation she set off towards the volley ball court to earn her physical activity points for the day. It looked like she had plans for this evening after all.

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"So that's how it happened and I just told him to mind his own damn business, ya know?" Kagura glanced at Sakaki and grinned playfully. With as much time as she spent with the quiet girl, she usually ended up doing most of the talking herself. It was never a problem though because she always had plenty of things to say.

It had started snowing that night so the girls had dressed for the weather appropriately. Sakaki wore a turtle-neck sweater and a skirt, over which she had on a long trench coat that reached down to her knees. Kagura had slipped into a pair of jeans and a tank top, then completed the casual wear with a brown leather jacket.

The girls had met up at the mall that evening and had spent the last hour shopping around. Kagura was the one who needed new running gear to wear in the cold weather, but she had convinced Sakaki to buy a set too. That way they could go running together.

Out on the sidewalk they walked side by side, both with their hands in their coat pockets with bags hanging from one of their wrists.

"I just don't see why it is that people always have to be up in each others' business," Kagura continued with a small shrug. "It's not like there aren't enough bigger problems in the world to worry about. I say that unless they don't have any more problems left of their own then they shouldn't..........uh....Sakaki?"

It was then that Kagura realized that she really was talking to herself. Looking to the side she saw that Sakaki was no longer there and she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to look around. "Hey, Sakaki!"

Several yards behind her she spotted her girlfriend. Sakaki had stopped and was looking in the window of a shop that had demanded her immediate attention. To the sound of her name, the quiet girl turned her head and grinned softly as though to say "can we?".

Kagura walked back and stood beside the other girl, curiously gazing into the window as well. She should have known that it would be a pet store. On the other side of the window was a glass display cage. The inside of the cage was lined with shreds of newspaper and a few toys. Among the toys were several kittens ranging in color from grey to bright orange.

The shorter girl smirked and nudged Sakaki with her shoulder.

"You and those cats...What is it with cats anyway?"

"They're cute." Sakaki only grinned further and grabbed Kagura by the arm to tug her to the store entrance.

Kagura laughed and decided to indulge her girlfriend this time by not putting up a struggle. Once they were in the store, she stepped back and let Sakaki lead the way to the display cage.

Sakaki approached the cage and crouched down to bring herself level with the fuzzy little balls of fur. The kittens were too busy playing with each other to even notice that she was there, but it didn't matter to her. The blush in her cheeks grew slightly more apparent as she watched the little felines. One of the kittens finally looked up and mewed inquisitively in her direction. Softly she laughed and pressed her hand against the pane of glass.

Kagura stood off to the side and watched her girlfriend with a knowing little grin. At first she hadn't understood Sakaki's infatuation with cute animals and stuff like that. If anything, she had expected the dark girl to be just as imposing as she looked. She had imaged that her room would have been painted black and that her entertainment of choice would have had something to do with vampires or dead stuff. It turned out that the exact opposite was true. Sakaki was one of the gentlest people she knew, and even had a habit of becoming emotionally attached to stuffed animals. All of Sakaki's stuffed animals had names, and over time Kagura had been given detailed descriptions of their personalities.

"If you're quite done...." She stepped forward and rested her hand to Sakaki's shoulder. "I'm willing to bet that there's another cat just waiting to play with you at home."

Sakaki's eyes grew wide and she looked up at Kagura in disbelief that she had just said that. The true meaning of the words would have only made sense to her, however. The blush in her cheeks turned a deeper shade of red as she straightened and walked quickly out of the store.

Kagura caught up with her out on the sidewalk and linked their arms together.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," she giggled and looked briefly over her shoulder to get the name of the pet store.

"You're impossible." Sakaki smirked before finally she too laughed and tightened her arm with the other.

"And you love me."

"No I don't."

"Yes you do."

"You're right, I do. And you're impossible."

"As long as you love me."

"Which I do."

"No you don't."

Sakaki arched one prominent eyebrow at her girlfriend who finally relented and turned her attention ahead of them. Their relationship was the only one where 'impossible' and 'love' could have fit hand in hand, and for that she was glad. There would never be another girl like Kagura.

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**Note:** I had to cut this chapter in half due to its length, so Chapter 3 will actually be the second part of Chapter 2.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any Azumanga Daioh characters. This story is rated R for language and explicit sexual content. Don't read it if you don't like it.

**Note:** This chapter, like the first chapter, contains some (edit)s towards the end. Again, if you would like to read the story without the (edits)s, you can find it at **fosff dot net**.

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**Chapter 3**

Kaorin peered out from behind the corner and watched as the two girls walked out of the pet store. Following them hadn't proved to be a very easy task, especially when she had followed them from school. The walls that lined the streets in the neighborhoods didn't always provide a corner to hide around. There would be long stretches of nothing but street and sidewalk, and her only hope of remaining hidden would be to stay as far back as possible until her targets were almost out of her sight.

Kaorin had followed Kagura all the way back to her house to find out exactly where she lived. This was a crucial bit of information that she would need if she was going to keep her sights on the athlete. It was fortunate that their neighborhoods weren't all that far away from each other.

Once Kagura's residence had been pin pointed, Kaorin dashed back to her own house, threw off her school uniform, and struggled into another skirt and long-sleeved shirt. Then as an afterthought she pulled on a sweater and grabbed a Giants baseball cap from her closet. Rule number one in following a person was to see and not be seen. She had never actively trailed anyone before, but it was just common sense to try and look as inconspicuous as possible.

When Kagura had left her house that evening, Kaorin had been right there waiting behind the wall on the other side of the street. Waiting was always the worst part. Her conscience couldn't even comprehend what would have happened if she got caught. No excuse that she could have contrived would have been sufficient enough to justify her presence in Kagura's neighborhood. It was still a chance that she had to take. She would never find anything substantial about the athlete if she only saw her at school. The most knowledge of a person came when they didn't know that they were being watched. Thus, her mental list of details began.

Kagura always walked in the middle of the sidewalk. More often than not, she kept her hands into the pockets of her jacket. Sometimes she would hum to herself. Any person who passed in the other direction would get sized up with a brief glance, and depending on their reaction, she would either grin or remain expressionless. This was something far different from Kaorin who was always the first to grin at a passer by and stayed more to the inner portion of a sidewalk.

Kaorin had followed Kagura to the mall where Sakaki had stood waiting outside one of the athletic apparel stores. At that time, Kaorin had been on the upper level of the mall peering down as she watched the two greet each other, and it was a good thing that she had been. Her reaction to seeing Miss Sakaki in a miniskirt was always the same: arousal followed shortly by a small twinge of guilt. Miss Sakaki had such wonderful, shapely legs. The skirt that she had to wear to school didn't do them the conforming justice that they deserved. Kaorin fantasized that if only she could have touched those legs, just once to graze her fingers against them, she never would have washed her hand again. Feeling herself become dizzy, she had closed her eyes tight and ducked her head between her arms. By the time she looked back up, the vision was gone. The girls had disappeared into the store.

The evening had taken a downward twist from there. Kaorin had followed them from store to store, always trying to keep close enough to pick up bits and pieces of their conversation. At the same time she wanted to keep herself far enough away to avoid suspicion. Several times she was sure that she had been spotted. It was usually Kagura who did the double takes in her general direction, but if indeed the athlete had seen her then she did a good job of not letting on to it. However, this was an infrequent occurence and Kaorin was mostly left free to continue her observations.

She had noticed that Kagura never touched Sakaki in a more than friendly manner, and Sakaki never stood very close to Kagura. Sometimes Kagura would frown at the taller girl and clench her fist, only to shrug it off a moment later. Sakaki paid no mind to these instances and responded to them in her usual one-word way. It was no wonder that pinning them as an intimate couple would have been difficult.

To hide away from Miss Sakaki felt wrong and Kaorin hated herself for it. She didn't want to be sneaky. Would it have been too much to ask just to spend a little time with the girl that she revered so much? Her previous attempts at conversation and engagement with Sakaki had all ended in failure. The circumstances had resorted her to this. If she was going to get Miss Sakaki, then she was going to have to play a little bit dirty.

When Kagura had finally purchased her one item for the evening, Kaorin had waited until she left the store to dash over and check the rack that the item had come from. Light blue exercise jackets and matching long pants, sizes four through six. Kagura must have been somewhere between 5'1" and 5'5". Kaorin was barely 5'0. She had wondered if Sakaki preferred girls who were closer to her own height.

Kaorin sighed and stepped out from the corner she had been hiding behind. It seemed as though the pet store had been the last stop, but if it wasn't then it didn't matter anyway. She had already gathered enough information about Kagura to know that she and the athlete were on two entirely different levels. If Kagura was really Miss Sakaki's type then she had no room to compete. With this heavy fact weighing upon her shoulders, she turned and headed back to the train station.

Lying awake in her bed that night, she knew that she had to do something. The current Kaorin didn't stand a chance against someone like Kagura. Whether it was confidence, athleticism, bust size, or even height, Kagura had her beat. The only exception to those aspects was in the field of academics. She made good grades while Kagura flaunted lowly scores.

There was a part of her that suggested she be happy for Miss Sakaki. Miss Sakaki certainly seemed to enjoy the time that she had with Kagura, but in a selfish way that wasn't good enough for her. If she was only given a chance then she could prove herself. Miss Sakaki would never find another girl like her who was willing to love her as much. Sighing, she rolled over onto her stomach and buried her face into her pillow.

Kaorin's heart was kind and considerate, but it wasn't entirely noble. It wasn't right that she had been nothing but devoted to her idol for all that time, only to be rewarded with the image of Miss Sakaki as part of another's happy ending.

Something had to change. Tomorrow would mark the first day of her transformation. For the love of Miss Sakaki, Kaorin was willing to strip the boundaries of her identity and claim that of another. An invariable golden wolf in a mangy sheep's clothing. Anything was worth doing. Anything for Miss Sakaki.

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Kagura smiled softly as she looked upon the girl curled up beside her. Sakaki was sleeping peacefully, hugging a stuffed rabbit to her chest. Both of them were (edit).

The evening had turned out to be longer than expected. After they left the pet store, Kagura had walked Sakaki back to her house with the full intention of simply saying good night. When they got to the house they saw that there were no cars in the driveway and all of the lights were turned off. A note on the front door informed them that Sakaki's parents had left to attend an honorary dinner for a friend of theirs and that they would be home late.

The opportunity had been too rare and golden to pass up. They had (edit). Because of the extreme need for secrecy, they almost never (edit). When (edit). The couch had been their mutual target that night, but they never quite made it that far. Kagura had (edit). Afterwards they were quick to gather up their clothing and high tail it to Sakaki's bedroom where the last (edit).

It was now nearing midnight and Kagura knew that she should have been on her way home. Yet Sakaki had fallen asleep and she hated to just leave her. She inched close to the back of the slumbering girl and propped up on an elbow, resting her head to her hand. With her other hand she reached over and gently dusted Sakaki's bangs away from her face. She couldn't tell if Sakaki was blushing or not, though she could make out the smallest hint of a grin. It was no wonder why, considering the rampant, unbridled consummation that had taken place between them only minutes before. A similar grinpulledat her own lips.

Kagura still remembered her first conversation with Sakaki. It had been at the beginning of their second year after the sports fest where Sakaki had beaten her in almost every single event that they competed in. She had never been beaten by another girl until that day and Sakaki became an instant subject of intrigue. The interest was not returned, however. Sakaki hadn't even remembered her. From that day on it had been a one-sided rivalry. Kagura spent most of her time trying to challenge Sakaki, and consequently because of that time that they were together, they became rather good friends.

Somewhere along the timeline of their friendship there happened a shift in relation. Kagura couldn't have pin pointed it, and Sakaki probably couldn't have either. The concept of love had been completely out of the question. Love was heavy and deep, not conceivable by girls as young as they were. Neither of them had called it love. It had been a mutual insinuation of a shared sensation that for Kagura, had at first only happened whenever she challenged Sakaki to a competition. Sakaki wouldn't win all of the time, though she did win most of the time. She was naturally athletic and Kagura found herself drawn to that talent. Finally there was someone who could provide a decent contest. Yet over time it wasn't only the talent that Kagura became attracted to.

One social boundary at a time, they came closer to each other until it had happened one day after school. The sun had just begun to set and Kagura was finishing up her last lap around the school yard. After school, while most other kids headed home or to the library to study, three evenings a week Kagura stayed to continue her endurance training for the swim team. When she had stopped that evening, she had looked up to see Sakaki standing on the other side of the field, watching her. Nothing needed to be said between them. Both of them already knew. Walking home that night they had dared to hold hands, and that had been the beginning of it.

Kagura had come to learn more details about Sakaki than probably anyone else had ever cared to. Because of her withdrawn nature, Sakaki had never had very many friends. She had resorted to collecting stuffed animals, not in place of human friendship, but as compensation for the lack of it.

Then there had been the cats. Kagura hadn't understood Sakaki's attraction to them, especially since none of the cats seemed to like her very much. Of particular interest was the little grey cat that they often encountered on their way to and from school. Each time Sakaki would reach out, and each time it would respond unfailingly with the points of its fanged maw.

For all of the cat's painful offenses, Sakaki never retaliated against it. She wouldn't have laid a hand on it even if she had wanted to. Kagura had been witness to this odd association when Sakaki had allowed the cat to bite her hand just so she would have a chance to pet it. She had expected to see a cringe, a frown, tears, or anything but the faint blush in the girl's cheeks. Sakaki was masochistic in her desire to create peace between the cat and herself. If biting her was what the cat wanted then she would allow it as long as she got to pet him in return. Disciplining him as Kagura had suggested hadn't even crossed her mind. It was this aspect that made Kagura realize that Sakaki was not the cold, stoic girl that everyone assumed her to be. The real Sakaki probably would have been a big let down to all the girls in the school who idolized her for being cool.

Kagura settled down behind her girlfriend and rested her head to the pillow. She slipped her arm under Sakaki's and sought out her hand so that their fingers could lace together.

A friendly rivalry, a functioning relationship, or maybe they were just really good friends who were open enough to admit love and affection. The exact definition of what they were would never become clear. It was never clear in any relationship. No matter what they may have been, Kagura was willing to accept it for what it was. It made her happy and that's all that mattered.

Sakaki shifted in her sleep and relaxed her hold on her stuffed rabbit just enough to allow Kagura's hand to fit with her own. They were a statistical impossibility as two high school girls who had been together for almost a year. They had taken risks to keep their relationship intact and Kagura was taking a risk right now just by being there in her bed. The consequences would be devastating if anyone found out about them. They would be sent to separate schools, denied any further contact with each other, and possibly sent out for corrective behavioral therapy. Yet Kagura had stayed, if only for the opportunity to give them a little more time together. Sakaki had accepted it. Kagura was the only girl who didn't fawn over her like she was some kind of a super star just because she was tall and quiet. The lack of drooling attention made her feel normal.....And somehow, it made her feel cute.

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**Note:** Finally I got to post something. XD


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any Azumanga Daioh characters.

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**Chapter 4**

_"Uh, Miss Sakaki! Good morning," Kaorin expelled a breath of relief and brought her hand to her chest. Her greatest fear had been vanquished. "We got to be in the same class again." _

"Really," Sakaki, expressionless as always, replied plainly before walking off to take her seat on the other side of the room. She didn't think much of the coincidence. Tomo, Chiyo, and all the others had wound up in the same class as her as well so Kaorin was no big surprise.

Kaorin waited until the other girl was far enough away, then suddenly turned and clutched at the front of her shirt. Her collected demeanor vanished in a rush of heavy breathing and sweat as though she had just sprinted a marathon.

"I'm so exhausted!" she panted softly to herself. Just being around Miss Sakaki was enough to put her body into overdrive, but the moment of excitement was brought to a screeching halt when suddenly something passed by in her peripheral vision. It was another girl heading towards Miss Sakaki's desk. The girl was new to the class but all of the students knew who she was. The star athlete, sought after above all other competitors. Strong, beautiful, well-endowed, and popular. Kaorin darkened instantly. "It's her...."

The sound of a whistle suddenly snapped Kaorin out of her reverie.

"All right everyone!" Miss Kurosawa let her whistle drop back against her chest and stepped up in front of the class. "I don't have anything planned for today so just make sure that you stay active. I don't want anyone to lose participation credit, ok?"

Kaorin nodded her understanding with everyone else and smiled softly. Today she would earn her participation credit all right. She would earn it along with a new understanding of what it meant to be actively competitive, and the subject of her study would be none other than one of the class's top athletes. Kagura would never know what hit her.

The students around her departed from the basket ball court to go and get the various balls and equipment that they would need for the day's P.E. activities.

"Kaorin," Chihiro smiled brightly and came to a stop in front of her friend. "We're gonna start a volley ball game. Wanna play?"

Kaorin looked briefly at the girl then gazed off towards the track where she could see Kagura and a few others beginning to stretch. Now was not the time for her to be indulging in a mindless game like volley ball. She frowned and faced her back to Chihiro.

"I don't really feel like playing volley ball right now. I'm more into track and field."

"Uh..." Chihiro hesitated and canted her head curiously. "But I thought you were no good at track and field." She had never known Kaorin to be all that interested in sports in the first place. Usually they just played volley ball to pass the time.

Kaorin suddenly whirled around and clenched her fist with a defensive snarl. Being competitive meant taking no crap from anyone, even if it was a harmless observation from a friend.

"Does that mean that I can't be?! Just what're you saying?"

"Nothing. I just..." Chihiro frowned and took a step back, raising her hands slightly. "I mean you never...." She thought that it would have been fine to point out the obvious to a friend that she had known for such a long time. Apparently she was wrong, but it wasn't her place to try and discourage Kaorin from trying something new. Finally she lowered her hands and sighed. "All right, never mind. I'll see you later."

Kaorin watched the other girl head off to the volley ball court. She couldn't worry about the lines of their friendship right now. That's what notes in class and phone calls were for. Right now it was time for some cut-throat contests between herself and the class's most notorious athlete bitch. She unzipped the jacket of her winter P.E. uniform and slipped out of the pants as well. Underneath the uniform she wore the regular shirt and bloomer combination that all of the girl's were required to wear. The winter air was freezing against her bared arms and legs but that was soon to change. Gathering her shed articles under her arm, she jogged off to the track.

Kagura bent down on one leg and extended the other out to the side. After a few seconds of feeling her calf muscles tighten and extend, she then repeated the process on her other leg. Her expression was set in a determined frown as it was always harder to exercise in the winter. The cold air made muscles tight and more liable to cramp if they weren't warmed up properly before each workout.

Since swim practices were put on hold during the winter time, all of the swim team members were still expected to keep themselves in shape. This was never a problem for Kagura. Couch Kurosawa had told her that she was the closest out of all the other swim team members to being national championship material. As far as Kagura was concerned, that gold medal was as good as hers. Try outs for the national team began in a few months and she planned to be the first one in line at the sign up sheet.

"Kagura!"

The athlete looked up to see Kaorin jogging towards her from across the field. The girl had stripped out of her winter clothes and was holding them under one arm while she waved with the other. Kagura got to her feet and rested her hands to her hips as Kaorin came to a halt in front of her.

"What's up Kaorin?"

"Enough small talk! Let's race," Kaorin dropped her jacket and pants to the ground and balled her fists in front of her. She felt like an idiot, but perception was everything when it came down to putting on an act, even though she didn't want it to be an act. She didn't want to _pretend_ to be athletic. She wanted to be athletic. She wanted to be competitive. She wanted to be a million times better than Kagura. Her smile was wide and devilish, filled with an outgoing vigor that she had never before exhibited.

"Uhhhhh.....You sure?" Kagura cast an odd look and rubbed the back of her neck. She had never seen Kaorin out on the track unless it was at the sports fest. Even then she was usually on the sidelines and cheering for Sakaki.

"Of course! What's the matter? Afraid that I'll win?" Kaorin taunted playfully and danced back and forth on the balls of her feet. The words and their implications felt foreign coming from her own mouth and that was something she needed to change. She didn't make enough jabs at people to let them know that she was a challenge. If she had to, she would take digs at anyone and everything until competitive language was a part of her life style.

"You're on!" Kagura's confused look instantly changed into a stern frown. No one challenged her without getting exactly what they asked for, and beating Kaorin would be no problem. Quickly she shucked off her jacket and pants and tossed them aside.

A race was not legitimate unless there were other people to witness it. Someone would have to be the starter, and another person would have to stand at the finish line to declare the winner. Kagura looked around the track area for two individuals who could possibly fill these jobs. Everyone seemed to be involved in their own acitivites except for one person, and she was tempted to overlook that person in favor to her own common sense.

Osaka stood in the middle of field that was surrounded by the circular track. Her head was tipped slightly back, and her arms hung loosely at her sides. The vacuous grin on her face told that even as she was standing right there, she was a million miles away in a world all her own filled with pigtails, dead animals, concepts of language, and foreign policies.

Kagura sighed. Osaka was a better candidate than no one at all. She turned and looked at Kaorin.

"Go find someone to stand at the finish line. I'll get Osaka to start us off," she exclaimed before jogging out towards the middle of the field where Osaka stood passively.

In the center of the field, Osaka felt comfortably meditative as she looked up at the clouds. Usually she could find some vestige of shape or meaning in the fluffy white bodies, but today none of the clouds looked like anything. They were shapeless, amoeba-like drones, drifting aimlessly until they either collected together or dissipated. The purpose of a cloud was to rain. She wondered what happened to the clouds that never got to turn into big rain clouds. What about the clouds that disappeared? They must disintegrate into millions of little water particles, and then those water particles collect together to form new clouds. So maybe clouds that died out got a second chance after all, but what if they didn't?

Kagura slowed down to a walk and carefully approached the day-dreaming girl. "Hey, Osaka. Got a minute?"

Osaka kept her head tilted back but slowly let it fall to the side to acknowledge the one who had stopped a few feet away. That must have been how it was. They were all like clouds, some drifting more aimlessly than others. With the realization of this awkward analogy, she wondered which ones would turn into rain clouds and which ones would dissipate before they got the chance.

"Sure……Whatcha need?" she replied in a soft undertone after a moment of gazing at the athlete.

Kagura almost wanted to cringe. Osaka was a really nice girl, but also very morbid at times. There was something odd and creepy about the way she would slip into her own world and then return with deliberations that didn't matter and were often innocently dark. If she had the mind to think about it, Osaka's world was one that she would never want to visit.

"Um…." She pointed her thumb over her shoulder. "Kaorin and I are gonna race. We need someone to start us off."

In a flash, Osaka seemed to break free from her thoughtful daze and shook her head slightly.

"Sounds like fun. Can I do it?" The smile on her face lost its edge of foreboding and returned to the gentle, carefree one of a typical girl-next-door.

"That's a great idea. C'mon, this way." Kagura smiled and decided against pointing out the specifics of why she had approached her in the first place. She headed back to the starting line of the track with Osaka following close behind.

Kaorin was already there at the track. She hadn't had any problem getting someone to stand at the finish line and call the winner. In this case it had been Yomi because her wrist watch had a timer on it, but Yomi wasn't the only one standing on the side of the track. In her search for someone to call the race, a fairly large congregation of students had taken interest in the fact that she and Kagura were the ones going head to head.

Hearing of Kagura and Sakaki compete was never anything new because their abilities were close to matched. However, Kaorin had no such reputation as a spectacular athelete. To watch a race between Kaorin and Kagura would have been similar to watching a tiger battle it out with a domesticated house cat. Their expectations were somewhat sadistic in the sense that they anticipated the house cat to get get torn apart, and yet they figured that the house cat must have had something up her sleeve in order to pull such a stunt. The students cheered as the competitors took their places at the starting line.

Kagura set her feet and crouched down to touch her hands to the white strip of paint that indicated the zero yard marker. This was going to be a run-away victory. Kaorin should have known that challenging her was like waving a red flag in front of a bull. There was no way that she would lose unless by some cruel turn of events she tripped and fell.

Kaorin crouched down as well. She made a subtle glance sideways to see how Kagura set her feet and then copied the posture. Her right foot was placed forward and her left one extended behind. If she thought about the facts of the situation then she would have known that there was no way for her to win this race. She paid no mind to those facts. Her self esteem had always been too low for her to do anything significant. If today was the day that she was going to change, then she was going to become optimistic. Of course she couldn't win if she didn't believe that she could, and she did believe. Today was different.

Tomo skidded up to the side lines with an ambitious smile. Someone had mentioned something about a race and that meant that there would be an inevitable winner and loser. Whoever the loser was would be one step behind her, and whoever the winner was would be her next target for unrelenting annoyances.

"Man! Kagura's gonna kick her ass for sure!" Finally there was someone besides herself who was pulling stupid stunts. Kaorin looked just as wastefully enthusiastic as she did when she challenged Miss Sakaki. There had to be something behind it. Perhaps Kaorin had consumed a lot of energy drinks that morning and was ready to take off like a rocket. She ran across the track to Kaorin's side and cheered loudly. "Come on Kaorin! Don't let that big-boobed bimbo get the best of you!" If Kaorin was going to waste efforts on trying to win the race, then she would waste just as much effort rooting for her.

The event hadn't just attracted Tomo's interest. Sakaki had been helping Chiyo retrieve a volley ball when she had noticed some students making their way over to the track. Whenever there was something going on at the track, it usually had something to do with Kagura. After handing Chiyo the ball, she walked over to see what was going on and was hardly surprised to see her girlfriend lined up at the starting line. What surprised her was seeing Kaorin lined up next to her.

Osaka raised her arms.

"Readyyyyyyyyy!"

Kagura rose up on her feet and Kaorin made sure to do the same. This was the moment when everyone would know that this race was for real. This wasn't a practice run or a meaningless event for entertainment purposes. With the one hundred yards stretched before her, Kaorin would come closer to imitating her worst enemy. In becoming like her enemy, she would then be able to obtain the one sacred treasure that her enemy had confiscated right out from under her. Miss Sakaki.

"Go!" Osaka threw her arms down and the girls shot off like human rockets.

Kaorin never stood a chance. Kagura was taller than she was, her legs were longer, she was stronger, and physically more adept. The students standing on the sidelines were surprised only by the fact that they just might have been expecting something different. It would have been pointless for Kaorin to challenge Kagura unless she had some kind of a trick in mind, but what they saw told them only that Kaorin must have been intent on losing.

One hundred yards had never been so close to an eternity of humilation for Kaorin who pushed her body past its limit. Her lungs hurt, her legs grew tired, and still the best that she could do was simply not good enough. From the very first yard she could only watch helplessly as Kagura's form got farther and farther ahead of her. Even if there was some benevolent and merciful god looking out for her out there, her good thoughts and optimism had gotten her nowhere.

Kagura laughed and held her arms out as she zoomed past the finish line. It was a small and rather meaningless victory because she hadn't worked all that hard to achieve it. Nonetheless, it was another one to tuck away under her belt. If ever their classmates had any doubts, which none of them should have, then right now she had cleared them up. She could beat Kaorin in a race without even breaking a sweat.

Several seconds later, Kaorin half-stumbled across the finish line then collapsed to her knees to catch her breath. She hardly had enough time to gather her energy before Tomo suddenly came running over.

"Damn, Kaorin! You got some crazy spirit!" the wildcat reached down and helped the other girl to her feet.

Kaorin didn't feel much like laughing about the matter but she forced a sheepish grin. If she had been on the outside looking in on herself, she would have thought that it was pretty funny too. Only it wasn't funny. For a moment she had actually been convinced that she could beat Kagura if she just believed in herself.

A few yards away, Osaka approached Kagura with a damp hand towel she had gotten from the locker room. The other students had dispersed from the sidelines of the track muttering words of disappointment. Some shook their heads at themselves. Similar to Kaorin, they thought that maybe there had been a point to the whole thing.

"Good job, Kagura," Osaka complimented in that soft, barely-there way of hers and offered up the towel to the athlete.

"Thanks, but I don't think that I'm the one who needs this," Kagura smiled and took the towel to hang over her shoulder. She was hardly sweating and the air was cold enough to evaporate what perspiration there had been. Instead she went over to where Tomo was clapping Kaorin on the back.

Kaorin looked up as Kagura approached. Goddammit if she didn't hate that bitch for being so fast and making her look bad, but a voice in the back of her head reminded her that she was the one who had challenged Kagura, not the other way around.

"Yo, Kaorin. Good job," Kagura took the towel from her shoulder and offered it to the sweating girl.

Another false grin of appreciation peeled at Kaorin's lips as she took the towel.

"Thank you..." She was at a loss of what to say. How was she supposed to be like Kagura and hate her so much at the same time? Further more if she wanted to emulate Kagura, what did Kagura do when she lost? She had no explanation for why she even instigated the race, so that left only one thing to do. She would take the matter in stride. She straightened up and wiped her face with the towel. As her body temperature lowered back to normal, the cold air became apparent against her skin.

From the side of the track, Yomi stepped up and put her elbow on Tomo's shoulder with a mischievous little grin.

"Yeah, now it looks like the school has two wildcat idiots instead of one."

"What was that?!" Tomo whirled around and growled at her long-term friend. Yomi laughed and walked backwards with her hands raised in nonchalance.

"It's only true, Tomo. Any sensible girl who suddenly starts pulling competitive stunts has obviously been hanging around you too long."

Kaorin froze with her face buried into the towel. Yomi's biting words, though aimed at Tomo, struck a cord in the deepest portion of her heart. In her attempts to copy Kagura's sportsmanship, she had instead come across as a comparison to Tomo in terms of wasteful competition. She felt herself begin to tense and knew that any moment she would start crying. She couldn't have that, but hadn't Kagura cried at the first sports fest? Maybe it would have been all right, but not now. Not after such an insignificant race.

Kagura's grin somewhat faded as she watched Kaorin. The girl was shaking just slightly.

"Um...Are you cold? Lemme go get your winter stuff. Hold on."

"I already got them."

Kagura turned and Kaorin lifted her head as Sakaki approached. In her arms she held two jackets and two pairs of pants, each neatly folded.

In an instant Kaorin wiped her eyes and straightened with a bright smile. Miss Sakaki must have seen everything. She had never felt a greater desire to curl up in a dark hole and die after such a magnificent failure.

Sakaki grinned softly and held out the girls' outfits, one in each hand. She didn't know what had sparked the race and she didn't really care. Kagura's victory had come as no surprise, and she only hoped that it hadn't surprised Kaorin either.

"Thanks, Sakaki," Kagura took the offered jacket and set about slipping back into them.

"T-Thanks, Miss Sakaki," Kaorin let the damp towel fall the ground and carefully retrieved her articles of clothing from the taller girl's hands. She couldn't believe it. Miss Sakaki had actually been holding her clothes, but more than that she had folded them as well.

Sakaki nodded and stepped back.

"That was quite a race," she offered simply. It was the best kind of a compliment that she could have given to the both of them.

"Yeah. What were you thinking anyway, Kaorin?" Kagura laughed and folded her arms behind her head. Kaorin's invitation to race had to have been some kind of a joke. "You had to have known that you'd lose."

Kaorin hesitated in the middle of zipping up her jacket. That was the one question and the one truth that she had been dreading to face. She could admit no direct answer. Indeed she had to have known that she would lose to Kagura. The loss had been inevitable, but what she didn't want to admit was that a part of her had actually been intent on winning. Her mind rushed for an explanation. There had to be something, anything besides the truth that she could say if only to justify her presence on the track that afternoon.

"Oooh...I don't know. I just didn't feel like playing volley ball today," she replied and rubbed the back of her head with a nervous giggle. The words came out sounding plain and pathetic like a fabrication as transparent as she was feeling right about now. The very idea that she would have gone head to head with Kagura as a mere substitute for volley ball was unbelievable. Her race with Kagura had not been a simple distraction. It had been her primary goal, but things would be fine as long as her generic, two-dimensional excuse was accepted.

"I see..." Kagura nodded her head slowly. She didn't know Kaorin well enough to say whether or not the spontaneous competition was odd of the girl. All she knew was that it had never happened before and she had never seen Kaorin go out of her way to challenge people, but she supposed that there was a first time for everything.

Before there was a chance for an awkward silence to settle between the three girls, Kaorin smiled and took a step backwards.

"Well, I should be off now. Chihiro needed me for a volley ball game so that's where I'll be going. Volley ball is a good group sport. Like sportsmanship ya know? All for one, and there's no 'I' in team so I'll talk to you later!" she rambled quickly before turning and running away as fast as she could. She had never been so embarrassed in all her life, and right in front of Miss Sakaki too.

"Um..." Kagura quirked an eyebrow curiously at Sakaki ."What was that all about?"

Sakaki only shrugged.

"She tends to do that."

Kaorin ran as far as the remnants of her energy would allow. In trying to imitate Kagura, apparently she had been a little bit too obnoxious and ended up acting more like Tomo.

This was going to be harder than she thought. Somehow she had to discern the differences between being a competitive annoyance and a casual athlete. She had no experience in being either such thing so the only aspect that she had to go by was what she observed. Going with her feelings was out of question. She felt like an idiot when she instigated competition, but Kagura wasn't just about competition. There was something deeper in Kagura that she had yet to fully understand. It wasn't nonchalance, nor was it casual talent. Kagura wasn't cool and silent like Miss Sakaki, and she wasn't loud and brash like Tomo. She seemed to be a mixture of both with just a touch of something extra that was all her own. Kagura was a genuine type of girl with a love for her teammates and rivals a like. Tomo was the only person who she couldn't really get along with because Tomo didn't combine well with anyone.

Kaorin stopped just outside of the volley ball courts and rested her hands to her knees to catch her breath. Method number one was scratched off of her list. Random competition for the sake of competition was Tomo's deal, not Kagura's. If she wanted to become more like Kagura then she would have to start with the details and work her way up, no matter how much she hated doing it. That was what she had to change. If she was going to get Miss Sakaki to notice her then dressing, walking, talking and generally being like Kagura would have to be natural to her. Slowly she straightened and let her hands fall to her sides. Already she could tell that things were about to get very messy.

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**Note:** Nothing really. R&R if ya want. :) Concept art available on my home page.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer:** I don't own any Azumanga Daioh characters.

**Note:** Gee, and to think that it only took me over a year to pick this story back up. I know that I said I'd wait until I finished 'Control' to continue this one, but this comes specifically for Tobunshi and others who sent me some good motivational emails. And Sayu-chan, that Kaorin is not obsessive is your opinion, and your opinion is worth no more than mine. If you don't like this story, please do whatever you have to do to avoid reading it.

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**Chapter 5**

For several days after her embarrassing behavior on the track, Kaorin spent the majority of her time concentrating on Kagura. She did this partly to learn more about Kagura, but also used it as a distraction against the jokes that were beginning to circulate about her. Aside from Sakaki, Kagura was probably the best female athlete in the school, and now Kaorin had become known only as the girl who had been crazy enough to pose a serious challenge against her. As Yomi had predicted, she was now in line with Tomo.

Being a punch line was as bad as she had thought it would be. Mostly she could just hear students giggling as she walked by, and there were a few curious individuals who asked her what had really happened. However, there were those more obnoxious students like Tomo who derived great pleasure in rubbing the incident in her face. Above all others, Tomo was the one who would, always in a loud voice, challenge Kaorin to every kind of competition under the sun, and then laugh when Kaorin walked quickly away. Tomo was a special case though, for she shined the spotlight on Kaorin mostly to divert the negative attention away from herself. Because of this treatment, Kaorin was more determined than ever to figure out how to change this reputation and gain a more positive one like Kagura's.

Kaorin followed Kagura almost everywhere, always from safe distance, and took notes of her daily schedule. It required a lot of time and planning on Kaorin's part, for she had to do everything without being noticed. As far as she could tell though, Kagura wasn't very observant. Her attention span seemed much like Osaka's in that she had to put forth an effort to concentrate on one thing at a time.

Weekday mornings for Kagura were almost always the same. If she woke up in time, she walked to school with Sakaki who, Kaorin noticed, would wait every morning at the same intersection to see if she would show. She would only wait until a certain time before heading on to school, and then unfailingly Kagura would come racing down the street about fifteen minutes later. Kaorin too ran late on these days, even later than Kagura because she didn't want them entering Ms. Yukari's classroom at the same time.

Since the school swim team did not hold practice, girls were expected to continue their training on their own time. Kagura went running three days a week, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays she went to an indoor pool at a local university to swim laps. After these daily exercise sessions, she would either go home, or meet up with Sakaki somewhere.

For two weeks Kaorin kept the athlete under close observation until finally she concluded that observation was simply not enough. She had to become friendly with Kagura and learn about her as a friend would, not as an anthropologist would. No amount of study could bring the real thing into perspective.

Aside from the fact that Kaorin despised Kagura, the problem with befriending Kagura was being able to do it without seeming conspicuous. She didn't want to draw even more attention to herself, and that's exactly what would happen if one day she simply plopped herself down with Kagura during lunch or PE. Immediately everyone would assume that she was up to another dead-end challenge, and the taunting and giggling would rage back into full swing.

Up until now, the circle of girls that comprised Kagura's group of friends, that being Sakaki, Yomi, Tomo, Osaka, and Chiyo, had been only peripheral to Kaorin's own circle, which was pretty much Chihiro and a couple of girls from Ms. Kurosawa's class. If she was going to get close to Kagura, she would have to make a gentle shift from one group to another.

She decided to start this shift with Osaka. Despite her peculiar nature, Osaka wasn't standoffish, and she was unwisely open to all advances that seemed in the slightest bit friendly. It was during lunch one day that Kaorin approached her.

"Hey," she said and set her bento on the desk beside Osaka's.

Osaka turned and looked up with a grin. Her forearms were flat on her desk, and between them sat her bento, still unopened. "Hey," she replied.

"Would you mind if I sat here?"

"Sure, go ahead."

Kaorin sat down sideways in the chair and crossed one knee over the other. "I just couldn't help but notice the score you got on that test Yukari handed back."

Osaka frowned and removed the lid from her bento. Inside, the bento was divided in two with rice on one side and fried vegetables on the other. "Oh, yeah. I could've sworn that I studied for that particular test, but I guess I didn't."

"Don't worry about it. I didn't do so well on it either," Kaorin said truthfully. Spending so much time on Kagura left time for little else. "It seemed a lot harder than her other tests."

"I think it's because of what she said the other day."

"What'd she say?"

"About that video game. The one she had been looking forward to, and then she bought it and said that it was one of the dumbest things that she'd ever seen."

"You really think?"

"I know," Osaka said in an ominous voice. She frowned and leaned towards Kaorin with a serious look on her face. "I was there when she said it."

Kaorin paused, waiting for something else. When Osaka said nothing more, she forced a smile and started on her own bento. "I see. So are you into video games?"

The conversation was the first of many that took place before, during, and sometimes after school. It wasn't hard to win Osaka's interests simply by staying quiet and letting her do most of the talking. A lot of the time Kaorin had no idea what the girl was talking about, but she simply smiled and nodded as though whatever Osaka had to say was as interesting as any of the variety shows on TV. It was only difficult when Kaorin herself would be asked a question to which she had to form an answer that would keep her in Osaka's interest.

"Didn't you ever wonder why they made gummy bears?" Osaka asked her one day in the middle of a volley ball game.

Kaorin blinked but then nodded quickly. "All the time. I mean…Why not gummy raccoons?"

Osaka smiled, watching the volley ball rise in an arc towards their side of the court. "Yeah, because I never thought that bears were a real popular animal. I think they'd sell a lot more if they made something like gummy cats, but then people hunt bears in real life and they don't hunt cats, so maybe they made gummy bears in the hopes that people would eat the gummy bears instead of hunting real ones."

"Exactly," Kaorin replied through another forced grin. She continued to look at Osaka, but her attention turned to her peripheral view in which she could see Sakaki by the basketball court just a few yards away.

In about three weeks' time, Kaorin had situated herself comfortably with Osaka on the outer ring of Kagura's circle and no one thought twice about her being there. Being a new friend of Osaka's allowed her the opportunity to speak more freely with Kagura and Sakaki than she ever had before, even though these opportunities were still uncommon. In the mornings, Kagura was usually late to class, and Sakaki was still socially unapproachable in Kaorin's mind. During lunch, Kagura usually ate with Tomo or sometimes Sakaki, and Sakaki seemed to prefer Chiyo's company. Still, there were times after school when the entire group would get together to discuss test scores, weekend plans, or any other random things that might have been going on in their lives. It was at these times that Kaorin could ask questions and make jokes and tell stories of past events, all without freezing or becoming overly anxious as she previously would have been prone to do.

The only one who really noticed Kaorin's subtle change in behavior was Chihiro, and even then she said nothing of it. She had known Kaorin for a long time, and she and Kaorin were very much alike. She didn't have a problem with Kaorin seeking to expand her social circle, though she was a bit hurt that Kaorin seemed to be doing more trading than expanding. Kaorin's participation in the astronomy club had dropped dramatically, and she declined nearly half of all Chihiro's invitations to go out and do something. They still studied together and made the occasional outing, and during these times Chihiro couldn't really sense anything different about her friend. Kaorin was still the same considerate and politely-spoken Kaorin, even if there were a few video game and swimming magazines scattered about her room, and even if she had suddenly taken an interest in monster movies and the Olympics. Somehow though, Chihiro couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. There was nothing wrong with change, though change taking place in a short amount of time and in the general direction of something was a bit suspicious.

Kaorin wasn't the only one exhibiting odd behavior. As the tryouts for the national swim team neared, Kagura's behavior also began to change. She spent even less time on her homework and more out on the track and in the pool. She cut her meals in half, not because of a conscious effort, but simply because she wasn't very hungry. Every time she thought of the upcoming competition, her stomach would tie itself into a knot and she would get the feeling that she hadn't been training nearly enough. Occasionally these thoughts would come in the middle of the night, and five minutes later she would be out of her bed and into her running gear.

By the time the tryouts were one month away, Kagura's sleep pattern had been thrown completely off and she seemed more distant from her friends than ever before. Not even Sakaki saw as much of her as she normally did. Because of Kagura's increasing inability to make it to school on time, Sakaki walked to school by herself, and she almost always found herself alone when she walked home as well. After school, Kagura could hardly pause long enough to say 'good bye' before rushing off to wherever she planned to train that afternoon, and later in the evening Sakaki would only receive a brief text message of apology and a promise that it wouldn't happen again.

For the most part, Sakaki tried to be patient. She knew how much the tryouts meant to Kagura, and she didn't want to come across as the needy girlfriend who got in the way. She still got to spend time with Kagura on the weekends, though it was obvious every time that Kagura's mind was on the tryouts and not on her. Kagura's distance was putting a definite strain on their relationship, but the thing that bothered Sakaki the most was that Kagura hardly seemed to notice. If she did notice, she wasn't doing very much to try and change it. It was almost as though they had gone back to being good friends at best.

Finally, Sakaki had had enough. On Monday morning when the tryouts were a mere two weeks away, she didn't even bother to wait for Kagura. She headed on to school as normal, and she didn't even look up when Kagura eventually did stumble into the classroom. During lunch, she ate with Chiyo without a single glance cast in Kagura's direction, and during PE she made it a point to stay as far away from Kagura as possible, which meant spending most of the time on the volley ball courts. When school was over, she was the first one out of the classroom, and she walked home at a faster pace than normal. As she sat at her desk that evening, her phone buzzed, not unexpectedly, with a new text message. She looked at the phone and then, against her better judgment, sighed and picked it up.

'_Sorry again. Pool was closed yesterday for cleaning. Had to make up time.' _

She read the message twice with a deepening frown. No questions about whether she was all right, or any mention of the fact that she had ignored Kagura all day. She scoffed and tossed the phone onto her bed.

This routine continued for three days before Kagura finally seemed to notice that something was a little off. Sakaki received the usual apologetic text message, but it was then followed with another.

'_Hey. You there?'_

Laying in her bed with the phone held above her, Sakaki contemplated returning the message, but then decided against it. It had taken Kagura three whole days to even acknowledge the possibility that something might be wrong, and now if she wanted a response then she was going to have to work for one.

A few minutes passed before she received another message.

'_I'm sorry I've been so busy.'_

And a few minutes later:

'_Talk to me?'_

Several more minutes passed with no further message. Sakaki sighed tucked the phone under her pillow. Perhaps tomorrow morning Kagura would actually be there to walk to school with her and then they could get this problem sorted out. She didn't want to be angry at Kagura, but she also wasn't going to let Kagura get away with such seeming disregard for her.

She was startled when her phone rang. The vibration shook through her pillow and instantly her eyes shot open. She slipped the phone back out and checked the number, not surprised to see Kagura's name flashing on the screen. She turned the phone off and let it drop to the floor. Whatever Kagura had to say, she could say in person. Phone calls were a confrontation cop-out, a guilty party's luxury that Sakaki wasn't going to allow her girlfriend. She felt bad, but not as bad as she felt when she thought of how Kagura seemed to have forgotten their entire relationship in the shadow of the swim team tryouts. She closed her eyes and eventually drifted off.

Later she was awoken by a strange dream in which she had been sitting on a park bench next to a tabby cat. The cat had been mewling about something in its own language, and in her dream Sakaki had been able to understand him perfectly. The cat had then turned and opened its mouth to mewl directly at her, but instead of a common mew, it emitted a strange noise that sounded much like two hard objects tapping once together.

"I'm sorry," she had said to the cat. "Could you say that again?"

But the cat had instead hopped down from the bench, and the sound it made upon landing was the same tapping sound as before.

Sakaki peered her eyes open. Her bedside clock showed 11:37PM, and her room was completely silent. She shifted onto her other side and dragged down one of her stuffed cats to hug against her chest. She closed her eyes and started to drift back off, but was then awoken by the same tapping sound from her dream. She came more awake and lifted up on an elbow to glance around. She didn't need to wait very long before the tapping repeated itself. It was coming from the window on the other side of the room.

Concealing a yawn, she tossed the blankets back and got up to go to the window. Her first thought was that earlier she hadn't closed the window tightly enough and that wind blowing through the opening was causing the blinds to hit against the glass. It had happened before, so she was surprised when she heard the tapping again and the blinds didn't move.

She came to the window and set her hand against the glass, pushing it to see if it was loose anywhere. She then looked through the glass and frowned when she spotted the problem.

Kagura stood at the base of the large tree in the garden. She was dressed in her running gear with her hands tucked into the pockets of her jacket. She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and then back again, looking at Sakaki like a puppy that had been left out in the cold.

Sakaki sighed and thought about closing the blinds, but ultimately decided not to. At least from this position she was distant from Kagura and that made it easier for her to stay angry, or at least look like it. She knew from past experience that Kagura had sneaky ways of getting out of the dog house, and this time she wasn't going to be soft. Kagura was looking more pathetic at that moment than she had ever seen her, and it was almost humorous. Almost. She unlatched the window and slid it open and then folded her arms on the sill.

"Throwing things at my window?" she inquired with an arch of her eyebrow.

"I know it's cheesy, but you weren't answering your phone," Kagura replied softly.

Sakaki sighed. "And I guess now you're going to serenade me with a song that's so ridiculous that it ends up being romantic, and that I'm going to laugh and forget all about what you've done? Or maybe you'd like me to come down there so that I can scream and cry and eventually end up in your arms with the demand that we never fight again?"

"No," Kagura said, casting her gaze to the ground. Sakaki was a sweet girl, but it wasn't difficult for her to look like an ice queen when she wanted to. "I just wanted to apologize."

"And this couldn't have waited until morning? It's almost midnight, you know."

"I know, but I was just in the neighborhood and-"

"And you came here now because in the morning you're going to sleep as late as possible and end up late for class again, and then you're going to be so tired all day that you're hardly going to speak a word to anyone, even me. And then you're going to rush off to get in as many laps as possible, because everyone knows that you've hardly done _any_ training at all whatsoever, and then when you get around to it, you're going to squeeze in enough time to send me a text message saying that you're sorry."

Kagura hung her head, unable to think of a reply. It was true that she had been so absorbed with the upcoming tryouts that she had pushed everything else aside, even things that she should not have.

"I'm sorry," she muttered again. She had no excuse beyond her inability to balance priorities.

Sakaki watched her girlfriend and felt her expression soften. She rested her fist to her cheek and sighed. "You've got to stop this."

"You know I can't."

"You're going to run yourself into the ground before the tryouts even get here. It's not good to obsess over stuff like that."

"I know, but I can't help it. I've been looking forward to this for years, and now that I'm finally old enough...Just the thought of not making the team, watching some other girl place better than me…"

"I've placed better than you plenty of times."

Kagura smirked. "That's different. You were born with athletic talent. The rest of us mortals actually have to make an effort."

"So you're saying that you don't mind it when I beat you because I beat everyone?"

"Exactly."

"So what if I tried out for the swim team and beat you? Would you resent me or would you be proud of me?"

"Sakaki…" Kagura frowned.

"Sorry."

They both knew how much Kagura would have loved to have even one half of Sakaki's athletic ability. They joked about it, but it had never really mattered because their competitions had always been for fun. Being on the national swim team was not a matter of fun for Kagura, but a matter of personal necessity. It was the ultimate goal of her youth, and for Sakaki to go in and take it from her would have been nothing but vindictive and mean. Sakaki would have submitted to physical mutilation before doing such a thing.

Silence settled between them before Kagura turned to go. "I'll let you get back to sleep."

Sakaki watched her and then straightened and rested her hands to the sill. "Kagura," she called softly, not wishing to leave the conversation on a sour note.

Kagura paused and looked over her shoulder.

Sakaki hesitated, trying to think of something to say. Even when they were on perfect terms, they didn't often get the chance to speak about relationship matters. Phone calls and notes were definitely out of the question because of the chance of a third party interruption, particularly Kagura's parents.

"I love you very much," she said, "and I don't like to see you like this. I know that you have to keep in shape, but just promise me that you'll at least start sleeping again."

Kagura's grin widened mischievously. She opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Sakaki who lifted her hand.

"I said 'sleeping'. Sleeping means that you close your eyes and don't engage in anything physical until you wake up."

"Aww." Kagura kicked a pebble and pretended to sulk.

Sakaki chuckled and moved to close the window. "Have a good night. Be careful," she said.

Kagura faced the window and held her arms out in an innocent manner. "Who says we can't sleep together? We've done it before, right?"

Sakaki smirked and rolled her eyes. "_Goodnight_, Kagura." She shut the window and drew the blinds closed.

Kagura snapped her fingers and turned to make her way back onto the street. She had treated Sakaki poorly over the past few weeks, but she would make it up to her somehow. Even if she had to buy her all of the cat memorabilia in Tokyo and deliver it on hand and knee every day through barbed wire and broken glass, she would do it. She tried to think of something else in her life that meant more to her, but so far Sakaki was the best thing that had happened to her. That included all of the competitions that she had ever won. While winning was nice, a trophy couldn't express affection, and a reputation couldn't go for walks or make jokes or look absolutely amazing in a skirt or a pair of jeans.

A dumb smile spread itself on her face as she started jogging. Yes, she would make up with Sakaki. She would make up so well that Sakaki would forget that they had ever fought in the first place.

Sakaki and Kagura weren't the only ones who had been at odds that evening. Twelve blocks away, Kaorin was at that moment pacing the length of her room. She had been up all night studying all of the material that she had neglected for the past two weeks. Chihiro was standing in the doorway, her bookbag in her hand and a stern look on her face.

"Kaorin, I'm just worried about you is all," she said sharply.

"What's there to worry about?" Kaorin retorted, throwing her hands up. "Is there something about Osaka that you don't like?"

Kaorin had asked Chihiro over to study, and Chihiro had been more than happy to comply. She had been wanting to speak with Kaorin for a while, but all of her attempts had been quickly shot down. Kaorin always seemed busy these days. She was either rushing off somewhere, or she was nowhere to be seen at all.

Kaorin had only invited Chihiro over because of Ms. Yukari's test tomorrow. She couldn't remember the last time she had studied, and she needed someone who took good notes in class. Her first thought was to ask Osaka, but studying with Osaka would have been like wading through cream in search of milk. Chihiro had been her best option, and she was sorely regretting her decision.

Things had started off just fine, but as the studying drew to a close and topics of conversation turned to other matters, Chihiro had inevitably asked the one loaded question that Kaorin had been dreading.

"Are you all right?" she had ventured carefully.

"Of course," Kaorin had replied with a quick smile, though a small bead of sweat formed at her temple. "The superlatives were giving the most trouble, but I think I got it now."

"You know what I mean."

The tempers and voices had escalated from there.

Chihiro sighed at Kaorin's accusation. "It's not Osaka. I just wish you'd tell me what's going on. You've been acting weird ever since, well...That day with Kagura."

Kaorin stopped and fixed the other girl with a cold glare. "Please don't bring that up." She went about cleaning up the books and notepads and pencils that they had been using. She arranged them on the table in the center of the floor and then picked up of her own bookbag to pack for the next day.

Chihiro frowned. "What are you doing? I just want to know."

"It's none of your- I mean, it's nothing!"

"Nothing?" Chihiro dropped her bag and went over to Kaorin's bed. "Then what's this? And this?" she demanded, reaching under the bed and dragging out the two latest issues of Sports Pro magazine. "You've never been into sports, and I just think that it's a little odd that you would all of a sudden just jump into them."

"I didn't _jump _into anything. I just wanted to try something new."

"Like becoming the laughing stock of the entire school?"

Kaorin whirled to face the girl, her hands balled tightly. "I told you not to bring that up!"

"I can't help it if it's true." Chihiro dropped the magazines on the bed and motioned to her friend. "Look at yourself, Kaorin. You're not an athlete. You're as small as I am and you can't convince me that you care anything about sports."

"Stop trying to tell me about myself," Kaorin nearly shouted. She felt herself on the verge of tears because everything that Chihiro said was true. She wasn't an athlete, and no matter how much she tried, she couldn't make herself care one way or the other about which sports drink or vitamin supplement was best.

"But it is true, isn't it?"

"Just get out."

Chihiro frowned and eyed the girl. "I'll go, but this isn't over. You're up to something and I'll tell you right now that I don't like it, whatever it is."

Kaorin made no reply. She kept her back to Chihiro and listened to the sound of the door shutting, and then Chihiro's footsteps as they descended the stairs.

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.**Note:** Hm...I'm pretty sure that the next chapter is going to contain adult content. I reserve the right to take this chapter down and edit it as necessary. 

**Note2: **I don't know if it's going to show up, but the computers here are doing something weird to my apostrophes. Sorry if it might look strange.


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